Xbox Questions


Octavious

Programer Guru! ...in the making
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ok, I have a whole lot of CAT5 cable around cause I just wired my new house's network
now, cause Halo 2, Halo, Doom 3, and many other cool games are here or coming, I want to make a link cable for between 2 xboxs ( and later for Xbox Live! )
now I got a question, Is it just a normal cat5 cord?
If so, is it set up standard or crossover?
I heard its crossover, but am not sure

and...
I have a question about the resoultion
what resolutin does the Xbox use for in game on standard games ( use Halo 1 as an example )
is it 800x600?? or what
also, If I set that as my settings on my computer then used a 24 inch tv, would the computers resolution look exactly like the xbox on the tv? if not, what resolution should I use for gaming on a 24 in CRT tv to look like xbox does on tv

finally, has anyone here done the ATA 100 mod for the xbox?
is it easy? what cord do I need, or just any ATA 100 cord

thx, I might have some more, but Ill ask later

~Octavious
 
well, it can be a crossover cable if you're going directly from XBOX to XBOX, but it sounds like you've already bought a CAT5 patch cable...no big deal, just make sure to use a router between them. If you're going to use Live later, you'll need a router anyway! Have Fun!

-BobBorakovitz
 
You can use any resolution on your tv, because it will change when a full screen movie or app if running anyway.

Then you can change the resolution ingame till you thik it looks ok, should look fine at 800X600 tho
 
<erm>
no big deal, just make sure to use a router between them

Surely you mean a hub or switch....

(you'd use a router to connect them/a home network to the outside world/internet... which may have a hub/switch built in - most ones for home use do...)

[sorry, being picky]

Argon0
 
<erm>
no big deal, just make sure to use a router between them

Surely you mean a hub or switch....

(you'd use a router to connect them/a home network to the outside world/internet... which may have a hub/switch built in - most ones for home use do...)

[sorry, being picky]

Argon0


A router would b best tho because he sed he may be having x box live, if he dus then he will not need to fidle fadle about.

And nearly all routers are hubs/switchs as well.
 
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You can use any resolution on your tv, because it will change when a full screen movie or app if running anyway.

Then you can change the resolution ingame till you thik it looks ok, should look fine at 800X600 tho

There's not a single console as far as I know that allows you to change the resolution that games run in.
 
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well, Ive got 2 switches , a 8 port hub, and a router by the cable modem, so Im fine on that
well, isnt crossed just in how you put the end on?
Ive got crimpers and stuff, I can make my own ( got over half a 500 ft spool left )
but I just have to switch I think the green and blue
o ya, Im loaded on the network stuff cause we do lan parties at our house and run 7 computers when were not party'n

thx guys

~Octavious
 
The thing you have to understand with resolutions on consoles is the monitor they use (Your TV) has a certain limit:

There are various divisions within the NTSC standard which determine what pixel and frame aspect ratios are used. These formats are as follows:

· NTSC (resolution 648 x 486 - preferred format)

· D-1 NTSC (resolution 720 x 486)

· D-1 NTSC Square Pix (resolution 720 x 540)

There are various divisions within the PAL standard which determine what pixel and frame aspect ratios are used. These formats are as follows:

· PAL (resolution 720 x 486)

· D-1 PAL (resolution 720 x 576)

· D-1 PAL Square Pix (resolution 768 x 576)

So there's no use displaying a 800x600 image on a TV (either PAL or NTSC), because your TV can't handle it :)
 
so... If I want to have the best looking, 640x480 would be best looking on a tv?
I was thinkn bout using my computer on the TV ( bigger " monitor " lol ) and wanted it to look as nice as the Xbox ( I tried once on 1024x768 with RTCW and I couldnt read any in game text, but who cares bout text, its nice having a bigger gun )
so... 640x480 is what I want to use when using a 24 inch TV and it will look like an Xbox game?
whats the disadvantage of using a TV at like 800x600 and above?
will it look nicer?

~Octavious
 
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For networking your xboxes you really need to take into account what you will be using them for to determin what type of cable and set up you will be using. If you are simply going to connect 2 xboxes together directly with nothing in between them in order to ba ble to set up a lan game on somthing like halo then you would need a cross over cable. If you are going to possibly play a lan game or two but will be using the xbox to get on xbox live at all then you would just use a standard cat5 cable and connect it to your network just as you would any other pc in your house. Just plug a normal cat 5 cable into your xbox and then connect the xbox to your hub, switch, or router depending on what hardware you have to set up your network. If you plug both of your xboxes into the network then you should have no problem running lan games or connecting to xbox live.

On another note don't bother with the ATA 100 cable you really won't see much or any improvment in how things work.

As far as resolution goes on a tv screen if you have a standard tv that does not support fancy stuff like hdtv and all that then your picture will be pretty fuzzy. A standard tv screen is not the same quality as a computer screen so things will be fuzzy and hard to read and the extremely low resolution will make things awkward. However if you are only going to use it to play games or watch a movie then you will probably be happy with it. Just don't expect to be able to write a paper in word or talk to people on aim with out straining your eyes a bit.
 
SO...
then 640x480 is the one I want to use on a TV rather than any other resolution?

~Octavious

The Xbox uses 480i (640x480) as standard

Some games can go to 720P and even a couple go to 1080i on the Xbox and obviously you need HDTV for that.

The Xbox will looks better than a computer on a TV because it outputs to it natively. Those computer converter boxes and cards downconvert to 480i and it usually looks like shite, more electronics to go through to distort the signal.

If you don't have an HDTV or you don't have component the next best thing is S-video. Composite and RF look like total shite. If your TV only has those inputs, throw it away, it is garbage. TVs with s-video and even component are real cheap now.
 
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